I don't believe any patch of land that size, that you could build on in the UK is available for $105k, or about £78k. Let alone one with a partially functioning business installed
Show HN: I replaced a $120k bowling center system with $1,600 in ESP32s
271–280 of 375 posts
Re: Show HN: I replaced a $120k bowling center system with $1,600 in ESP32s
#272Earlier quoted context omitted.
My guess: 1) New cars are too cheap to make at scale. 2) Old cars are quite unsafe to drive, comparatively (airbags, backup cameras, lane departure alerts, blind angle alerts, etc)
Aerodynamics as well, new cars and especially ev/hybrids are slippery compared to many/the average if we take old cars to mean 50’s through 70’s.
Re: Show HN: I replaced a $120k bowling center system with $1,600 in ESP32s
#273I've started building a box for managing agents. I hate sitting in front of my Mac all day flipping between terminals. I wanted something that was audio and whiteboard / paper first.
The Pi has a mic, camera, and projector hooked up. The Pi is always listening, so I just say most commands (i.e. "check logs on backend service, customer xyz said abc is wrong"). I can tell it "look at the board" and it can see things I've written or drawn and can project on top of or alongside anything on the board.
Not sure yet if it's more efficient, but it's definitely more fun.
Re: Show HN: I replaced a $120k bowling center system with $1,600 in ESP32s
#274Earlier quoted context omitted.
I think I see some parallels with the aftermarket for old cars. Holley's entire catalog is "here's a thing that'll modernize your 1960s engine without replacing the whole damn engine" This kind of thing is a low-volume, low-margin business by nature. It's those kinds of businesses that the megalomaniacs of our field tend to ignore. There are people with needs, and money they are willing to exchange for a solution to…
There is no shame and no business there. We just read a story of someone who didn’t want to pay market price and went DIY. There are companies doing bowling alley equipment and you can pay them for maintenance. Is there a single one of those on F500 list? No and people are running those companies and what OP did … he didn’t want to pay market price. Well yeah those companies are overpriced if you are software enginee…
Re: Show HN: I replaced a $120k bowling center system with $1,600 in ESP32s
#275Lol, nice! It depends on what you mean by "owning a bowling center," but it looks like there are at least two of us into this :D I bought a really old fully mechanical (and automated!) mini bowling lane. It works without a CPU, except for the score display, which originally used a 1970 Intel D8749H (MCS-48)! Just like yours, the only thing that turns this machine on is a single relay :D On my model, I also get feedba…
Kind of funny that factory is in a small town next to Zaragoza...
Re: Show HN: I replaced a $120k bowling center system with $1,600 in ESP32s
#276Lol, nice! It depends on what you mean by "owning a bowling center," but it looks like there are at least two of us into this :D I bought a really old fully mechanical (and automated!) mini bowling lane. It works without a CPU, except for the score display, which originally used a 1970 Intel D8749H (MCS-48)! Just like yours, the only thing that turns this machine on is a single relay :D On my model, I also get feedba…
I love it! I actually looked at integrating with scoremore myself, but once I crossed into hardware world, I still couldn't get over how much fouling alone cost. $750 / unit and they're -ancient-. Definitely will post on bowl-tech as well. I'm just new enough to have a lot of that new-guy anxiety around posting OpenLaneLink there yknow? Those guys know -everything- about this stuff.
Re: Show HN: I replaced a $120k bowling center system with $1,600 in ESP32s
#277Godspeed!
Re: Show HN: I replaced a $120k bowling center system with $1,600 in ESP32s
#278Earlier quoted context omitted.
Yeah. Anyone who hated writing code but had to, like biologists and chemists, now don't have to.
This is arguably a dangerous fallacy, particularly for anything critical. When the person doesn't know programming, it becomes harder to guide agents and do reviews, leading to overlooking issues and accepting mistakes. This gets amplified for any creative solutions or fixing future problems, where it is something the LLM was not trained on or has limited data about the subject. Plus add how much money spent on token…
Re: Show HN: I replaced a $120k bowling center system with $1,600 in ESP32s
#279I see in this one of the competetive advantages of the US at work. I don't believe any patch of land that size, that you could build on in the UK is available for $105k, or about £78k. Let alone one with a partially functioning business installed
But you're right in general. Looks like this former bowling centre in Inverness is asking for £1.5m: https://uk.businessesforsale.com/uk/for-sale-leisure-develop...
Re: Show HN: I replaced a $120k bowling center system with $1,600 in ESP32s
#280Earlier quoted context omitted.
I think I see some parallels with the aftermarket for old cars. Holley's entire catalog is "here's a thing that'll modernize your 1960s engine without replacing the whole damn engine" This kind of thing is a low-volume, low-margin business by nature. It's those kinds of businesses that the megalomaniacs of our field tend to ignore. There are people with needs, and money they are willing to exchange for a solution to…
I once expected an aftermarket industry to pop-up to hybridize old cars. Old rear-wheel drive manual cars sound easiest. Generator attached to the flywheel instead of the starter motor, and then find some way to squeeze a drive motor by the rear diff (probably more complicated, but surely not impossible). I thought something might pop up once companies like Bosch started making generic e-axles for manufacturers to us…